Alton Towers - Thirteen

Its going to be awful, it has a friction wheel lift!!!

'It IS a Mega-lite.'
NO it is not, go on some fact websites, it is an Intamin Family Coaster, that is why it is a worlds first, it is the first Intamin Family and it has switchbacks, a show scene and a backwards helix

[gouldy]

Originally posted by Toxic

Its going to be awful, it has a friction wheel lift!!!

[confused]... so does the Hulk

ill be up there on sunday for the final day of the halloween event and im shure ill get some more pictures.

It said family coaster on the crates, but that is just the type of ride isn't it. It doesn't mean it's going to be like the runaway mine train.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29479646@N ... 3/sizes/o/

That photo kind of shows what I mean. I'm trying to find the others. Look at how tiny the bunny hop is. Compared to the 70 foot or so lift hill, that SHOULD be taken at quite a speed. And remember, according to the plans, the hills following that have a peak at the same elevation as the bottom of the drop. So the next hill should be faster, as its kind of a double down element from there.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/29479646@N ... 2/sizes/o/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/29479646@N ... otostream/


And if you look in the background of this picture:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/29479646@N ... 8/sizes/o/

You can just see the bunny hop in relation to the lift hill. That is quite a substantial difference in height from top of the lift hill, to the first peak of the bunny hill. Especially when like i said before, the next few hills are at a much lower elevation.

Anyway, check through this guys photostream on Flickr.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29479646@N00/page6/
Theres a couple which show the scale of the building and ride quite nicely. Its bigger than i expected, but not huge. And I do not expect it to be a ultra amazing fantastic ride, but I do think some people are underestimating it just because it says it's a family style of coaster. It has the potential to be pretty good in the first run through the woods in my opinion.

[gouldy]

The construction is going pretty quick, look how far they've got with the station and structure around the drop track element.

And you're right jpe, the helix and airtime out of it are a lot tighter than I was expecting in comparison with the the height of the drop. Not looking too bad. Unless they have brakes half way down the drop or something

Haha, yeah. Im just waiting for something like that to happen. From what i've heard there is plywood being put up on the structure now as well, so during adrenalin week people will not be able to see into the building, and it will allow them to start work on the drop feature, and start installing all the mechanics of the ride without the risk of them getting wet.

I've also heard people speculating stupid ideas about the cars, coming up with ridiculous ideas that typical fan boys do. They are going on and on about how the cars will most likely be heavy, and could have some special feature (of which the only realistic one ive heard is onboard audio), but i seriously doubt that there will be any sort of spinning involved like a few people are saying, because that would totally make the switch track obselete. Because of the thinner track, i imagine we're looking at a regular, light coaster train, which can hopefully maintain quite a lot of speed through the first section.

http://www.towersnerd.com/gallery/?image=1381

I quite like this photo as well. It shows the backwards drop into the trench after the drop track. As you can see, the lead in to the drop isnt very tight, and the helix looks quite wide and long. This surely means there will be a very small launch backwards, rather than just crawling out backwards, otherwise the train will surely not have enough momentum to make it back up to the station? Which is a little bit more exciting than i hoped. If i am wrong though, we are looking at a very dull final helix. However, i did hear a number of people say that trench is quite a lot deeper than it looks there.

But yeah, i am clutching at straws a little bit, hoping this is going to be a fun ride, rather than a half arsed train ride through the woods. If the ride is fast, the layout could be good. If it isnt, then we're screwed.

[gouldy]

I'm pretty certain there will be a tyre launch backwards, but you're only talking like 20mph. Because it's drop track, it's going to drop flat, so it can't just roll out of that section, it'll have to be pushed and a tyre launch is obvious being as they're already using tyres on both the lift hills. So yeah, like you say to get through the helix with any speed at all, it's bound to be moved out of the drop section with some decent force, not just "moving off" speed anyway.

And yeah, I've heard people talking about odd things happening with the trains. People will make up any old crap really won't they? I'm pretty sure they'll just be normal trains for the reasons you already said. Even though they may be a little themed!

after being there sunday the construction is looking very cool. the first drop looks pretty awsome and they have covered up the drop track so you carnt see whats going on. so its either going to be just a slow drop or something really cool. the trains are apparently going to be sorta like the "rita" trains which is NO LONGER CALLED RITA after sunday. yep the name is changeing aswell as the colour and all round theme.

[gouldy]

source?

I heard that too, but didnt think it had been confirmed yet gaz? I heard the whole area is going to be rethemed to the dark forest theme, which i would quite like, but its going to be weird if Rita is no longer Rita. I liked that name.

For Scarefest they had people dressed up in UG Land, to go with the theme of SW6, they were kinda like Grim Reapers, but with a nature touch...

^I saw them, were you there too on Halloween?

I believe they are called wraiths. Theres a sign up saying beware of the wraiths etc etc.

Anyway i got this posted to me by alton towers facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1080235866158

Interesting. It looks like we have the drop track, and alton towers are back to their any publicity is good publicity selves.

[gouldy]

AT make me lol. What is the need for this? I'm assuming it's the drop track assembly on a lorry, only with a stupid banner over it.

ITS empty!!!!!!!! i bet

its publicity and its distracting away from other things.

An e-mail was sent to those on the SW6 mailing list from PR agency "Frank PR". Although not giving details away regarding the ride's world's first element, it does announce the arrival of the ride's unique selling point/element on site yesterday. The release also contained pictures of the load arriving, covered in a large branded tarpaulin on a flatbed truck. A video has also been released on Facebook featuring footage of the truck arriving on site.

It then goes on to talk about the ongoing speculation on blogs and social networking sites such as Twitter regarding the theme for the ride along with rumours regarding the elements of the ride. According to the e-mail, the most popular theme was "that a crypt in a mysterious forest has been disturbed, awakening a ghost." whilst other rumours have included:

A track that gives the illusion it is invisible
SW6 will beat the record for the greatest vertical drop in the world
A track that moves vertically as you ride
There is no mention whether any of the above rumours have any truth in them. Also discussed, is the steps the park have taken in ensuring the ride remains "top secret". This apparently includes increased security staff, a banning of any cameras and mobiles phones, requiring staff to sign non-disclosure agreements and also approaching Google Earth to black out aerial views of the building site.

A quote from Sales and Marketing Director Morwenna Angrove also says:

?????????In the build-up to previous rides, significant details were leaked and this time we are taking no chances. Our new attraction is totally unique and scarier than ever ????????? it's unlike anything the world has seen before. Fans do not have to wait too long to enjoy the ride, as they will be given the chance to ride SW6 early in 2010. I would suggest those who dare prepare themselves; they will be in for ride they will never forget?????????????????? "

staff have been banned from any sort of camera or phone on site as well as upoed security and a forced silence. ok this is either going to be mind blowing or crappy

They blacked Google Earth? Damn why didn't i think to look there...

google earth isnt current anyway, so what's the difference?

[gouldy]

It also isn't of good enough quality to make anything like this out, only really the overall layout and possibly the position of supports.

It more than likely was completely empty, Gaz, yes.

It wasnt empty they wouldnt take the time to do that. The cargo arrived at grimby docks near me, and all over the radio stations they were warning about slow moving traffic because of the new alton towers ride being transported. They wouldnt have it travel that far if it was empty.

This is typical Alton Towers behaviour. If they have a lorry travelling over two hours to the park, why not create some sort of talking point by writing secret weapon on the side, it is totally free publicity, which would be seen by a huge audience on the roads, and because of the nature of it, it will get people talking. This is what i love about Alton Towers, they know how to the make the most of any marketing they can get, but im afraid this may be at detrement to the ride itself, as i fear this worlds first just wont live up to its hype at all.

ANd they are still claiming its a secret when most people have guessed its drop track? I dont understand why they are trying to keep it a secret so much if the worlds first has already been guessed? Unless there is something else we have missed? But i really doubt it.

[gouldy]

The general public is what is important, and any member of the general public seeing that wouldn't have guessed. And we're not going to go around telling every memeber of the general public what is going on. It's possible that we're missing something, but I don't think so, they're just still marketing to the GP rather than the enthusiasts.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/altontowersresort/

Really REALLY good photos by alton towers. You can see the switch track after the helix etc.

And i like this photo:

[gouldy]

No way! There's some awesome pictures on there, we need more of this!

it is a family coaster, how bad is that

[gouldy]

It's not bad for families! [:D] haha